La Trobe

Melbourne Outer Eastern Suburbs

Marginal Labor 1.7%

MP

Laura Smyth (ALP) since gaining this seat for Labor in 2010.

Profile

La Trobe is an electorate of 562 sq.km surrounding Cardinia Reservoir in the Dandenongs, east of Melbourne. It includes parts of Boronia and Ferntree Gully as well as suburbs along the rail line to Cockatoo and Gembrook in the north of the electorate. In the south the electorate takes in parts of Melbourne's south-east growth corridor, including new housing estates around Narre Warren and Berwick. (Map)

Redistribution

Loses about 2,700 voters near Pakenham to McMillan and around 15,500 voters in Boronia to Deakin, while gaining around 14,000 voters in Narre Warren South from Holt. The changes almost double the Labor margin in this closely contested seat, up from 0.9% though still marginal at 1.7%.

Background

La Trobe was first contested on the expansion of the parliament at the 1949 election. The electorate is named after Victoria's first Governor, Charles La Trobe.

La Trobe has generally been a conservative seat, normally only won by Labor at elections where the party formed government. Former members include the Liberal Party's Richard Casey (1949-60), John Jess (1960-72) and Bob Charles (1990-2004), as well as Labor's Peter Milton (1980-90). The electorate has undergone major boundary changes over the years.

La Trobe was one of the seats gained by the Liberal Party in the anti-Cain government swing at the 1990 Federal election. The Liberal Party's Bob Charles held the seat until retiring in 2004 when new Liberal candidate Jason Wood retained the seat with an increased margin. Wood retained the seat narrowly on the election of the Rudd government in 2007 despite a high profile Labor candidate and a 5% swing to Labor. A further swing of 1.4% to Labor at the 2010 election defeated Wood. New Labor MP Laura Smyth will defend the seat in 2013, with Wood again running as the Liberal candidate.

2011 Census Profile

La Trobe currently holds the title as the young home buying capital of Australia. It has the nation's fifth highest and Victoria's highest proportion of couples with dependent children (45.5%), the nation's fourth lowest proportion of rental dwellings (15.3%) and the second highest proportion of dwellings being purchased (53.0%). It has the nation's fourth highest proportion of dwellings with two or more vehicles (68.4%) and the second highest proportion of residents attending school (18.0%).

Past Voting Patterns

La Trobe is more naturally a Liberal leaning electorate, currently being a marginal Labor seat because of the Liberal Party's overall poor result in Victoria at the 2010 election. The Labor-leaning La Trobe of the 1980s has gone thanks to redistributions and changing demographics.

2013 Ballot Paper (8 Candidates)

Candidate Name

Party

SCHILLING, Michael

The Greens

WOOD, Jason

Liberal

LEAHY, Martin

Sex Party

SMYTH, Laura

Australian Labor Party

JENKINS, Rachel

DLP Democratic Labour

MARTIN, Daniel

Family First Party

KENNEDY, Jason Grant

Palmer United Party

SEAMAN, Kevin

Rise Up Australia Party

Candidates

Michael Schilling

The Greens

24 year-old Schilling works as a registered nurse and was the Green candidate for Narre Warren North at the 2010 Victorian election.

Jason Wood

Liberal

Aged 45, Wood grew up in the electorate and also started his 13 year career with the Victorian Police as a Junior Constable at local Boronia Police Station. Wood later became a Detective with the Organised Crime Squad and was promoted to Senior Sergeant with the Counter Terrorism Coordination Unit. Active in organising youth groups, Wood also received a Federal Centenary of Federation Medal for service to Youth and a Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award for outstanding service to the community. He contested the safe Labor electorate of Holt at the 2001 election before winning La Trobe in 2004. During his second term in Parliament, one of Wood's speeches to Parliament became a minor internet hit when he mangled his pronunciation and made several references to problems with 'genetically modified orgasms'. Wood was re-elected in 2007, defeated in 2010 and now returns to contest La Trobe again.

Martin Leahy

Laura Smyth

Australian Labor Party

Aged 36, After growing up in Dandenong and Oakleigh, Smyth completed a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Laws with honours at Monash University. At the time of her election in 2010, Smyth was completing a Masters in Law at the University of Melbourne with a focus in international and human rights law. Smyth worked as a corporate and commercial lawyer for almost a decade and worked as a senior associate at Holding Redlich lawyers before her victory in 2010.

Rachel Jenkins

DLP Democratic Labour

Dr Jenkins is 37 and lives at Mount Dandenong. She runs her own training and consultancy business in the area of disability and social research. She has worked in the welfare field since she was 17 and holds a PhD in social sciences, studying social movements supporting people with disabilities, Indigenous Australians and women in Australia.

Daniel Martin

Family First Party

Martin has been a business owner and director for 12 years and is an I.T. Consultant with qualifications in communications and infrastructure development. He lives locally and is involved in a local community group, sporting club as well as providing I.T. Support in Victorian Schools and Businesses.